One of the best things about Jersey Boys, the invigorating musical currently playing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, is its honesty about the seamier side of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. While the show, written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, doesn't linger on the negative — it doesn't linger on anything, to be honest —it still shows us band members going to prison, cheating on their wives, borrowing money from the mob and just plain getting tired of each other's bad habits.
Because we've come to like Valli (Christopher Kale Jones) and his fellow musicians — Bob Gaudio (Andrew Rannells), Nick Massi (Steve Gouveia) and Tommy DeVito (Erik Bates) — these defects and detours only add flavor to their story and never distract us from our excitement over the boys' successes. And it's somehow helpful to know that behind such perfectly crafted songs as "Sherry," "Walk Like a Man" and "December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)" were four distinctly imperfect souls finding a harmony on stage that was only intermittently there for them in living rooms and bedrooms.
In fact, the best of these songs actually sound better once we know about the messy lives behind them. If four guys with so many flaws can make the flawless "Big Girls Don't Cry," well, maybe alchemy got a bad rap. If too much travel time and a busted marriage can still produce "My Eyes Adored You," maybe paradise is available — at least for three minutes on the radio.
The show, skillfully directed by Des McAnuff, is constructed as a combination of biography and autobiography, punctuated with lots of music. Sometimes the Seasons speak directly to the audience — beginning with DeVito, who started the band — and sometimes we're treated to short but meaningful scenes: Valli meeting his wife-to-be, DeVito encountering an exigent loan shark, Massi resigning from the band in a confused huff. No segment lasts more than several moments, and there's never much wait for songs — including "Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Rag Doll" and the exhilarating "Who Loves You."
Not all the tunes were written for the Seasons — we also hear "Earth Angel," "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "My Boyfriend's Back," the latter sung by the girl group The Angels. But all are at least as effective as their counterparts on record, and there were several that I enjoyed more in the Morsani Hall than on the radio. Part of this is because of the strong, clear voices of the vocalists (though Jones falls just short of Valli's robust falsetto) and part is the joy of hearing famous harmonies produced right in front of us without any special electronic intervention. In fact, now that I've seen Jersey Boys, I feel spoiled: Could the real group and its voices have been this much fun?
The story: Tommy DeVito, Jersey boy, starts a band that sings other people's songs. He recruits Nick Massi and then Frankie Castelluccio, who changes his last name to Valli (he's about to spell it "Vally," but girlfriend Mary Delgado tells him that "Y" is a "bullshit vowel.") The band goes nowhere under several names and finally brings in singer/songwriter Bob Gaudio, who's already had a No. 2 hit with the ridiculous "(Who Wears) Short Shorts."
By this time, Valli is beholden to mobster Gyp DeCarlo (Joseph Siravo), and DeVito has been in and out of jail for various crimes. Then the Seasons meet producer/songwriter Bob Crewe (Jonathan Hadley), who first signs them as a backup group, and finally puts out their record "Sherry." Then "the whole world explodes."
The Seasons sell millions of records. But Valli's marriage can't survive all his tours; DeVito owes the mob over $100,000; and Massi's antipathy toward DeVito reaches a breaking point. Finally, all that's left of the original band is Valli himself — and some guys he recruits to be called The Four Seasons.
After more tragedy and machinations, the Jersey boys are reunited for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then the Four Seasons and the full company treat us to one thrilling rendition of "Who Loves You," and we're sent out singing into the night.
Satisfying? Yes. Jersey Boys is as much concert as it is theater play, and it may actually move too fast at times. But it's as joyful a musical as I've seen in years.
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2008.